


The Deserter, Bearing Gifts

by earthphoenix (roughknuckles)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-29
Updated: 2007-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-09 06:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roughknuckles/pseuds/earthphoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A road not taken AU where Gellert returns to Albus, attempting to put right what wrong had been his fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Deserter, Bearing Gifts

Albus Dumbledore, thirty, was a busy man, either in a meeting with the Wizengamot, researching, lecturing now and then at academic conferences or writing, always writing. Gracious as he was, the man seemed somber most of the time, except when he was teaching, completely engaged with his class, and sharing his already considerable knowledge.

Dumbledore heard the knock, but did not look up, "Come in" he called, still writing the sixth page of his notes on a chapter of a rare book on Dragon's blood and it's uses as a cooking ingredient in Romania.  
  
Gellert entered in, breathless, "Albus-" he attempted to smile, still wearing almost the exact same items of clothing he had since the day he had left. Of all the guests Dumbledore had ever had, or might ever expect to pass through the threshold into his office, there was one surely, he did not expect. The once golden boy now looked something like a wilted flower. His hair no longer in curls, but wet and dirty and clinging to the back of his neck. He looked something like a wet house cat which had just swum a wild river. Which was odd, since it was not raining in England.  
  
Albus kept writing for a moment and then the quill slid off of the page as his hand went limp, leaving a large, blue line down the middle of his parchment. He took a slow, deep breath and looked up very, very slowly, feeling his body enter the surreal, floating feeling of shock as he recognized the man across from him. Dumbledore's already pale skin became chalk white, and it seemed all he could do was stare. "What are you doing ..."  _alive, in Britain, soaking wet, dirty_  "in my office?"  
  
Gellert rushed forward with his usual (had been, usual) enthusiasm. "Albus- I’ve done it-" the young man, no longer a boy, pulled out first a small object from his pocket, placing it on the table, where it rolled only a little, but stopped, soon followed by a cloak which distorted the image of that which it was covering, and finally a wand – long and solid – and perfect to it’s core,  "For you" he said, placing the wand down last, removing his hand and stepping back, "Anything you want now … you can have it."  
  
Albus's pale lips fell open and his eyes shifted over the three items quickly, almost in a panic before he stood and used his wand to shut and lock the door after Gellert. "You ... left! You left without a ... a ... word!"  
  
"I ... had to fix it! I had to get you the tools to have _her_ back ... anything, anything you want to have!"  
  
Young Dumbledore looked to the items on his desk again, then back at Gellert, who looked as though he'd been dragged by horses through dense brush for days. "You ... left to find the Hallows and now they're ... here? These are the ... the real hallows!?"  
  
"YES!"  
  
Albus's eyes, for a moment, looked as wild as Gellert's, "How do you know? Have you tried them!?"  
  
"Merlin! Don't believe me, _don't_ ... test them yourself! But I swear to you! I have done it! I've done it for you! May you have mercy, Albus, I swear to you, I have done it, I have done it for you-"  
  
Albus stepped back, sceptical, and yet ... It was the stone he wanted, above anything else, and he felt the fingers of his free hand close around it without needing his eyes to find it on the desk. "We shall see." He nodded, not taking his eyes off of Gellert as he turned the stone over once, twice, three times.  
  
And there before them, before Albus, stood the adolescent spirit of his sister, Arianna. She did not necessarily look pleased, but she did look real.  
  
Albus fell to his knees, stunned, "Arianna ..." she looked whole now, not stunted by trauma as she had been in life, barely able to speak. "Arianna, I ... I'm ... I'm so, so, sorry. Your life should have been long, and happy, and-" he hung his head, unaware that he was crying already, it was all happening so fast, "I take full ... blame and I can only beg you to .. forgive me."  
  
"My brother." Arianna stepped closer, her hand against Albus’s shoulder, then to the side of his face, "I carry no blame for you in the afterlife, nor did I, in life. I wish you to find the peace, I never could."  
  
Albus closed his eyes, clasping her hand to his face, "Who was it? Which of us ... I swear to you, if I did, it was a mistake, a terrible, terrible mistake."  
  
"It was me" Gellert answered, "It - was - me."  
  
Albus looked from Gellert to Arianna, unsure if Gellert was just trying to absolve Albus of the enormous guilt he carried with him for twelve long years.  
  
"It was a mistake" Arianna agreed, "But it was his spell."  
  
Albus took a deep, shaking breath and kissed Arianna's hand over and over, then pressed it to his own face again. "Are you ... alright here? If you'd like to come back, I believe I can bring you back."  
  
"To what end and purpose, my brother? You are not lonely, are you?"  
  
"No ... but, your life ended so suddenly, so young, you never had a chance to grow up, to recover, to fall in love ..."  
  
"Another time" she smiled at him.  
  
"You're certain? You're sure?"  
  
"Yes, my brother. There will be another body, another life, which I wish to inhabit. And if it is a source of comfort to you, my spirit will still be intertwined with your life."  
  
"Are you alright here? Is it painful?"  
  
"No, my brother, there is no pain" she took him by the hand, barely touching him and yet managed to bring the man to his feet, kissing the side of his face.  
  
Albus hugged her suddenly, protectively, stroking her hair with one palm. "Are you happy here? Mother and Father are with you?"  
  
"Yes, Albus. Those whom you wish to surround yourself with, they are with you in whatever form you wish them ... they are with me."  
  
"Please," he whispered, looking down at her, "tell them how sorry I am, for everything, and that I ... miss you all."  
  
"They know, my brother, they know." She put her hand to his chest, "And they wish you to know, to be free of his heart ache, for this pain. It is time to let go."  
  
Albus nodded, very solemnly, "I will, I will ... try" he looked down at his hands around Arianna's, "and I will visit again, I swear to you."  
  
Arianna nodded, kissing the side of his face again, "You did not fail me, brother. I was happy, even though I could not express it to you. The pain you carry now, it does not exist for us on the other side. Do not become defined by it. There is so much more for you, a long and brave and beautiful life for you, Albus."  
  
Albus nodded, "Farewell then, for now" he smiled a little through his tears, kissing Arianna's cheek, "and thank you, so much."  
  
She smiled at him, then faded away into memory and spirit.  
  
Only Gellert remained. Quite, and eyes adverted.  
  
Albus let the ring drop from his hand, onto the floor, and fell to his knees again.  
  
"Albus?"  
  
He looked up with tear-reddened blue eyes, but his face was different now, it was peaceful. "Thank you" he whispered.  
  
The young man who had never rested until his very goal was achieved nodded, smiling for the first time in years, "Anything ... for you."  
  
Albus stood, wavering a little and took a step towards Gellert, throwing his arms around him.  
  
"Oh" Gellert wrapped his arms around him as well, "Albus" he hugged him tight, smiling against his shoulder - knowing he had no right to ask to be forgiven - but pleased beyond all measure that Albus got what he wanted.  
  
"You returned ..." Albus smiled, allowing himself the pleasure of holding Gellert in his arms again. He still smelled the same, even if he looked different, "I didn't think you would ever return to me."  
  
"I swear ... it was always my intention ... I did not think it would have taken me as long as it did ... I ... am back ... until you are wiry of me."  
  
"Gellert, my ... darling, darling Gellert ... you've lost your mind." Albus looked at him again, "You look as though you haven't stopped for a day."  
  
"Never. How could I let you down?"  
  
"You should rest, we should both rest ... come with me." Albus took both of his hands and led him to the floo, "Are you feeling weak?"  
  
Gellert laughed, something he could still manage after all these years, "All I can feel ... if you touching me."  
  
"Then I won't stop" Albus smiled softly, "and we shall apperate instead if you can hold on to me."  
  
"Yes ... until I breathe my last."  
  
Albus pulled Gellert into his arms and a second later, they were spinning together through a long darkness and then stood in the middle of a small, book-laden flat with a fire roaring in the floor. Albus's arms held Gellert still securely, "There ..."  
  
"Your hair ..." Gellert touched it with the tips of his fingers, "it smells the same."  
  
"So does your neck" Albus smiled, inhaling Gellert's skin like fresh air.   
  
Gellert managed another laugh, a little more broken though, "I smell horrible."  
  
"Then we'll clean you." Albus murmured walking Gellert backwards to the bathroom. Gellert's desperate state made no sense at first, he was thin, dirty and wan looking, and Gellert was more than capable of taking care of his basic needs with a wand infinitely, but he chose not to. Albus realized that Gellert had sentenced himself to more than a decade of suffering for Arianna.  
  
"Albus-" Gellert brushed his fingers over Albus's lips, "I have waited ... I should never, have waited ..." he kissed him, very lightly, very apologetically, and very devotedly, "I love you."  
  
Albus felt his own soul leave his body at the words and the touch, "Gellert ..." he whispered, "are you certain?"  
  
"I have made many mistakes ... but this is not one."  
  
Albus gave in to what he'd wanted to do the second Gellert walked back through the door and kissed him, eyes closed, cheeks wet, hands at the small of Gellert's now angular back.  
  
Gellert kept his arms around Albus, tight as he held on, kissing him, finally crying.  
  
Albus lifted Gellert easily, still kissing him as they moved into the bathroom, the tub beginning to fill with suds and warm water. "Thank you ... thank you."

It had been more than a decade since Albus had blurted the three words out first. He'd just been working with Gellert, late one night, gazing at him over a book and it came out, "I love you" as a complete surprise.  
  
Gellert clung to him, "No- I have done nothing worthy of thanks ... but I will do anything you ask of me, Albus."  
  
"Stay this time," Albus kissed Gellert again, starting to undress him.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Promise-"  
  
Gellert's tattered vest and shirt hit the floor first.  
  
"Yes. Albus." Gellert arched his body so that he kiss Albus's neck, the side of his face.  
  
"I love you too," Albus moaned.

**Author's Note:**

> co-authored. originally written for thestralskinphoenixtears


End file.
